Posted by Tom Allinder on Wed, Sep 08, 2010
When it comes to investor relations efforts or any sort of brand building or public relations consideration, small companies (public and private) often look outside of themselves immediately. Too many companies view brand building, marketing and investor relations as best left up to the experts. While this is partially true, I believe each company has it within themselves to build their brand, market their company and grow their shareholder base…
It reminds me of a speech which was given in many places and over 5,000 times by Russell Conwell. Mr. Conwell who died in 1925, was American Baptist minister, orator, philanthropist, lawyer, and writer. He is best remembered as the founder and first president of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and for his inspirational lecture Acres of Diamonds. Now, I did not actually listen to any of his live speeches but his work is distributed liberally online.
To paraphrase the story, Acres of Diamonds, there was a farmer in Africa that heard about all of the diamonds being found on the African continent. One day he woke up and decided to sell his farm so that he could go and look for diamonds. He took the first offer on his farm and off he went to look for diamonds (elsewhere). A few months later, in a fit of despair because he had found no diamonds, he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meantime, the new owner of the drowned farmer’s farm was hiking across his property and crossed a small stream. As he did, a sudden flash of light blue and pink light caught his eye. He picked up the stone, examined it and noted that there were many such stones with the curious reflected light pattern. He took the biggest one back home and put it on his fireplace mantle as a curiosity.
A visitor to his house some time later picked up the stone from the mantle and nearly fainted. He told the farmer that the “stone” was one of the largest diamonds he had ever seen. The farmer told him that the creeks that crossed his property were full of such stones…
Needless to say, the farmer became very wealthy as his farm became one of the biggest diamond mines in Africa.
So what does this story have to do with your company?
Diamonds, in their rough state do not resemble the finely cut stones you see in jewelry stores. The ability to recognize a diamond in its rough state is very important.
Your company has diamonds within it – you may not recognize them at first, with with a little cutting and polishing they can pay huge dividends.
What are likely your diamonds you may ask?
Your Website – is your website being all it can be? How many visitors are you getting? Are you engaging your visitors? Do you have a blog to update visitors, clients, customers, investors and prospective investors?
Your News Releases – Second only to your website… Are your news releases formatted for maximum impact? Can your news releases replicate themselves across the Internet over time?
If you are interested in finding the diamonds in your company, we can provide a free report for you.
Posted by Rosemary Sorg on Mon, May 24, 2010
The ramification of this disastrous oil spill to our precious environment and eco-system will not be known for years to come. We also have no clue of the economical devastation that this spill will bring to Coastal communities. Some experts are predicting that Louisiana's fishing industry alone could potentially face a $2.5 billion loss. When disaster strikes, here are 4 Social Media Strategies to keep in mind for your company, lessons learned from the BP oil spill.
Mistake #1 - Not asking the SM community for help. BP, TransOcean, Halliburton and Deepwater Horizon Oil all pointed fingers at each and wasted so much time instead of coming together as a "team" or asking the public for assistance in trying to come up with a solution that would get this environmental disaster, which is being called a "worse disaster than the Exxon Valdez tanker spill," under control. BP's CEO, Tony Hayward as interviewed on the "Today Show" stated, "It wasn't our accident, but we are absolutely responsible for the oil, for cleaning it up, and that's what we intend to do."
Mistake #2 - Not being Transparent, open and honest. Instead of being transparent, honest and upfront, they lied about how many barrels of oil were spilling each day, trying to protect their reputation. They originally stated that 1,000 barrels of oil were spilling each day, when in reality that figure is closer to 5,000 barrels. Many scientists believe the real figure is higher still, which is heartbreaking.
Mistake #3 - No social media strategy! BP's so called "Human Energy" boasts of being "progressive, responsive and innovative," we can see by their lack of initial presence in social media sites like Youtube, LinkedIn, facebook and twitter that they are far from progressive, responsive and innovative. Another lesson to learn here is that social media is on 24/7 so be prepared and do not be caught off-guard with No social media strategy when disaster strikes. Be proactive, be transparent and be honest. Your customers will appreciate that more and will become your legs in spreading your news faster if you engage and interact with them in an honest and transparent way.
Mistake #4 - Avoid more Bad PR! In another PR catastrophe, BP has been offering $5,000 payments to coastal residents in exchange for giving up their right to sue the oil giant over its deadly oil spill. Between the environmental damage and the economic losses to many of the people who made their living in these coastal communities, $5,000 should be an insult to these hard working Americans. I love
Todd Defren's blog, where he describes this best by blogging: Catastrophic environmental destruction + Willfull ignorance + Cynical payola = Bad PR.
Brand Keys, a research firm that tracks customer loyalty, said that the company's reputation with the general public has been soiled and it has fallen from top to last in rankings of customer loyalty among the seven largest oil companies. I would love to hear your sentiments on BP and their ongoing missteps.
Posted by Rosemary Sorg on Thu, Feb 25, 2010
Social Media is growing at an enormous rate. The amount of time people spend on social media sites has increased by 82%! That's growth at an exponential rate. If you read this data correctly you can see why social media is such a formidable marketing tool.
The question begging to be asked is, "What are business owners who are not in tune with social media and web 2.0 asking?" What are their main concerns?"
I've compiled 5 questions that you, as a business owner, should be asking your PR Agency. Dear PR Agency, be prepared to answer these questions for your clients to set yourself above your competition!
Experience: How much experience do you and your agency have with social media? Anyone can attend a webinar or two or have created a twitter profile and/or Facebook page. Ask specific questions like who is in charge of clients social media campaigns? Which social media platforms do you use to establish a brand for the clients? They should be able to give you data of the top platforms and why.
Social Media Strategy: What is your social media strategy? You have to know your audience and that requires research. Agencies must drill down and get keywords right for your company/brand. They must establish a community and connect with that community. They must create content that will be informative and valuable to that community of followers. They must engage their audience to keep them coming back for more.
Online Real Estate: Ask if they have a website and go check it out. Ask if they have a social media presence and where? Check and see how they do social media on their own property. See if they are actually practicing what they preach onto themselves. Many people claim to be experts or gurus at something and when you do research on their website it turns out not to be the case.
Case Studies: Ask them for case studies. Check out what they have done for other clients. How did they come up with the idea/plan/strategy. Have them provide some data to you and interpret it for you.
ROI: The golden question that drives social media. Can you measure my return on investment? What tools do you use to measure ROI? There are many tools out there that measure ROI. What is important to you is that not only should they be able to provide this data to you but they should also be able to translate it to you in a clear, measurable insight! Did it meet the objectives you set out with?
Beware of agencies that promise the skies. Agencies should operate under the motto, "Under promise and over deliver." Remember, like everything else, social media takes time. Campaigns take time to develop a voice, a presence in these communities and anyone promising you quick results is lying. Some campaigns take anywhere from 6 months to a year.
I heard this from an innovative man, Todd Defren, and think it's appropriate for this blog. "PR is not just about hits, it's frequency, distribution, relevant-content via the right channels, to boost credibility and find-ability!"
Do you agree? If not, what other questions would you include? Do you agree Mr/Mrs Business owner? Your input is always appreciated.
